Disposable litter bag



y 5, 1970 R. J. RUDA 3,510,052

DISPOSABLE LITTER BAG Filed July 25, 1968 I N VEN TOR.

1 Bag 172036; J w g ATTORNEYS 3,510,052 DISPOSABLE LITTER BAG Raymond J. Ruda, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Bagcraft Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 25, 1968, Ser. No. 747,669 Int. Cl. B65d 33/16 U.S. Cl. 229-62 2 'Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A litter bag is made of thermal-plastic film having an external tacky or adhesive area carried on a reversible pocket, the adhesive or tacky area serving both to support the bag and to aid in holding the filled bag in a closed condition.

BACKGROUND This invention pertains to a disposable litter bag made of heat sealable thermal-plastic film.

Prior art It has been known heretofore to provide a bag with a tacky or adhesive area on one side of the bag as a means for supporting the bag during the time that it is being filled. However, litter bags of that type can readily lose their contents, particularly during subsequent handling, at which time the tacky area comes into contact wth the hand of the person handling the same.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disposable litter bag construction.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a disposable litter bag which is readily closable, which is self-supporting, and which is not susceptible to leakage or loss of contents once closed.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the appended specification and in the accompanying drawings.

ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a disposable litter bag provided in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the litter bag of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line IIIHI of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 showing the bag in a filled closed condition;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of a modified form of disposable litter bag; and

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the bag of FIG. 5.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The principles of this invention are particularly useful when embodied in a disposable litter bag assembly such as shown in FIG. 1 and generally indicated by the numeral 10. The litter bag assembly 10 includes a flexible plastic bag 11 provided with support means generally indicated at 12.

The flexible plastic bag 11 preferably comprises a plastic film such as polyethylene or equivalent heat-scalable material enabling the bag assembly 10 to be constructed on a bag making machine from a continuous strip or web of material.

The plastic bag 11 includes a flat main panel or wall 13, a flat front panel or wall 14, and a flat rear panel or wall 15. The walls or panels 13-15 are each quadrilateral, the main panel 13 being longer than the front panel 14 and extending the full length of the bag 11.

3,510,052 Patented May 5, 1970 ice - The front panel or wall 14 has three side edge portions 16, 17, 18 joined to corresponding side edge portions of the main panel 13. The side edge portions 16 and 18 are heat seals, while the side edge portion 17 is provided by a bottom pleat. The fourth side 19 of the front panel 14 is an unsecured edge whereby the front panel 14 defines a litter-receiving or storage pocket 20 (FIG. 3 or 4) at the front side of the main panel 13. The pocket 20 opens toward the upper end of the bag 11.

The rear panel 15 has vertical end edge portions joined to the upper side edge portions of the main panel 13 as at 21, 22, the rear panel 15 being a closure flap integral along the upper edge with the main panel or wall 13 and having a lower unsecured edge 23. The rear panel 15 extends horizontally the full width of the top of the bag 11. The bag 11 is constructed in the form as illustrated in FIGS. l-3 so that initially the rear panel 15 is at the rear side of the main panel 13, thereby defining a downwardly opening pocket 24 which opens toward the lower end of the bag 11. The storage pocket 20 may be bellowed outwardly and filled with litter, and when the bag assembly 10 is to be disposed of, the rear pocket 24 is turned inside out as shown in FIG. 4 so that the upper end of the front wall or panel 14 is received within the pocket 24.

The support means 12 also serves as a means for holding the plastic bag 11 in a closed condition. Preferably, the support means comprises a rectangular strip of material which is pressure sensitive on both surfaces, hereinafter referred to as tacky means disposed on the rear side of the rear panel 15. Prior to use, the pressure sensitive or tacky means 12 are covered by a protective tape 25 until access to such tacky means 12 is desired. The upper edge of the tacky means 12 is disposed at a distance from the upper end 26 of the bag 11 which is greater than the distance that the edge 19 of the front panel 14 is disposed from such bag end 26. The tacky means 12 are entirely surrounded by an imperforate portion of the rear panel 15. Thus the protective tape 25 is enabled to extend beyond all portions of the tacky means 12.

When the bag assembly 10 is to be put in service, the protective tape 25 is peeled away so as to expose the tacky means 12 as shown in FIG. 3, thereby enabling the bag assembly 10 to be pressed against a suitable support surface to which the tacky means thereby will adhere. When the bag assembly 10 has been filled, for example completely filled, the rear pocket 24 can be reversed as explained above, and on doing so, the tacky means 12 becomes directed toward and disposed against the upper part of the front panel 14. The tacky portion or means 12 thus forms a seal extending horizontally along the front of the bag 11. In the event that the tacky means 12 should loosen, the nature of the construction of the plastic bag 11 with its pocket 24 is such that even though the seal provided by the tacky means 12 may have opened, the bag remains closed, thereby retaining the contents.

If desired, a slit or line of weakness 27 may be provided in the main panel 13 and the rear panel 15 for receiving other conventional support means therethrough.

The thickness of the materials illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 has been exaggerated for clarity of illustration.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. If the slit 27 were to be omitted from the bag 11 of FIG. 1, then the edge 19 of the front panel or wall 14 could extend up to the upper end 26 of the bag 11. The embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrates such a construction.

I claim as my invention:

1. A disposable litter bag assembly, comprising:

(a) a main panel;

3 4 (b) a front panel secured to said main panel at all said one edge of said front panel, and are provided with but one edge thereof and disposed at one side therealigned apertures beyond said one edge of said front panel of to define a storage pocket opening toward one for receiving a further supporting means. end (c) a rear panel secured to said main panel at all but 5 References Cited one edge thereof, disposed at an opposite side there- UNITED STATES PATENTS of to define a pocket opening toward the end opposite said one end, said rear pocket being turnable 2,620,842 12/1952 Hoeppner et a1 150L 7 inside-out to close said storage pocket; and 3213 5 5 3; d ta k n d's d said re s'd if said 1 I y mea S 1 at 1 e 10 3,313,471 4/1967 Dickard et al. 22962 rear panel for supporting the open bag, and engageable with the front side of said front panel to seal the bag in response to said rear pockets being turned DAVID BOCKENEK Pnmary Exammer inside-out to seal the bag. US. Cl. X.R. 2. A disposable litter bag assembly according to claim 15 1507; 22966 q 1, wherein said main and said rear panels extend beyond 

